Locking mechanism for accordions



April 4-, 1939. s. OLSON 2,153,477

LOCKING MECHANISM FOR ACCORDIONS Filed Feb. 25, 1937 Patented Apr. 4, 1939 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 2,153,477 LOCKING MECHANISM FOR ACCORDIONS Stanley Olson, Chicago, Ill.

Application February 23, 1937, Serial No.

1 Claim. This invention relates to locking mechanism parts, which will be inexpensive to manufacture, and install, and which will not easily get out of order.

With the above and other 30 fully described out departing of the advantages of the invention.

' In the accompanying drawing forming part of this specification,

Figure l is a side elevation of an accordion with portions broken away to expose bellows locking mechanism constructed in accordance with 40 the invention.

the stationary part I1. may be resorted to to hook.

The hook I 4 is provided intermediate its ends with a conventional spring pressed hinge includ- Manipulation of the nuts adjust the length of the is secured to a stationary part 26 of the accordion by bolts 27.

An operating lever 28 is provided with a ball 29 intermediate its ends, which rotatably fits in an opening 30 formed in the stationary member 26, there being gudgeons 3| on the ball which fit provided with a fork 35 at one end to receive the gudgeons 36 of a roller 31 which is adapted to engage the pivoted end of the hook l4 when the lever is rocked in one direction and dislodge the hook 14 from the hook 13 to permit opening of the bellows.

The outer end of the hook 28 is threaded to receive a knurled button 38 which is exposed exteriorly oi the accordion in position to be shifted by the operators hand to rock the lever on its pivot to released position or to operative position. The lever projects through a slot 39 formed in the accordion and on opposite sides of the slot are arranged plates 40 and 4! which are secured to the accordion by bolts 42 that pass through the plates.

The plate 4|, as best shown in Figure 5, is provided with a slot 43, the ends of which are enlarged, as shown at 44 and countersinks 45 are formed around the enlarged ends to interchangeably receive the rounded end of a stop 46 which is loosely mounted on the lever. A helical spring 41 is sleeved on the lever and is confined under tension between the stop 46 and the collar 48 rigidly secured to the lever.

The stop 46 is yieldably received in one of the enlarged ends of the slot 43 and maintained in this position when direction and is yieldably received in the mating slot and retained in this position when the lever is shifted in the opposite direction to respectively hold the lever in either of its two adjusted positions.

In operation all or the parts of the device, with the exception of the button 38, are concealed within the instrument and the hooks l3 and H are normally inter-engaged to hold the bellows closed. By shifting the operating button the lever 28 is rocked on its pivots 3| to engage the roller 31 with the hinged end of the hook l4 and dislodge the hook from engagement with the stationary hook l3 and when so shifted the lever will remain in this position to hold the hook l4 disengaged so that the accordion may be played.

From the above description it is thought that the construction and operation of the invention will be fully understood without further explanation.

What is claimed is:

In an accordion, the combination with spaced relatively movable members constituting the ends of the accordion and the intermediate bellows, of a stationary hook adjustably secured to one of the members, a jointed hook secured to the other of saidmembers and having a spring pressed free end interlocked with the first named hook, an operating lever having intermediate its ends a ball and socket connection with said last named member, said last named member forming an inner wall with one end of the accordion, an outer wall spaced from said inner wall and forming part of the accordion end structure, said lever having one end adapted to engage the hinged free end of the jointed hook and dislodge the hook from the companion hook when said lever is rocked on said ball as a pivot, a keeper on said outer wall, there being a slot in said keeper through which the free end of the lever projects, and is operable from the exterior of the accordion, said slot having enlarged ends, and a spring pressed stop sleeved on the lever releas ably engageable selectively in said enlarged ends of the slot to hold said lever in either of its limits of pivotal movement.

STANLEY OLSON. 

